Few U.S. Cities Recoup Jobs in Recovery

More than 90 percent of U.S.
metropolitan areas have failed to recoup the jobs lost during
the recession that ended in 2009, a report found, underscoring
the slow pace of recovery by urban economies.

Only 26 of 363 U.S. metropolitan areas have seen employment
rebound to pre-recession peaks, according to the report,
prepared by forecaster IHS Global Insight and released by the
U.S. Conference of Mayors today. Nearly 80 areas aren’t expected
to see such a recovery for more than five years.

“It’s very clear that there is a great deal of economic
malaise throughout the country,” Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, a Democrat who is president of the mayors’ group,
told reporters in Washington. “Most of our cities will be
struggling with their economies for another five years.”

The spotty pace of recovery has left many cities still
struggling two-and-a-half years after the end of the recession,
which reduced tax collections and forced mayors to fire workers,
scuttle public-works projects and raise fees to eliminate
deficits. Even with revenue rebounding, local governments have
eliminated 533,000 workers since their payrolls peaked in 2008,
Labor Department data show.

Rebound Seen

Among cities where payrolls are forecast to rebound to pre-
recession peaks by year-end are New Orleans; Burlington,
Vermont; Pittsburgh; Madison, Wisconsin; and Dallas, according
to the report. Those with the smallest amount of jobs recovered
include some regions hit hardest by the housing market’s
collapse, such as Reno, Nevada; Tallahassee, Florida; and Santa
Rosa, California.

Mesa, Arizona, Mayor Scott Smith, a Republican, said the
city is boosting employment, though the report predicts that the
metropolitan Phoenix area will have recovered fewer than a third
of its lost jobs by year-end.

“We are creating jobs, but not nearly as fast as we need
to,” he said in an interview. “But I think the good news is
that we’re not getting worse. After three years of uncertainty,
it seems we have bottomed out.”

The U.S. mayors said political paralysis in Washington has
stymied recovery. They pressed for Congress to approve funding
for transportation and avoid deeper cuts to programs that foster
urban development, such as Community Development Block Grants.

Unemployment Slides

The national jobless rate fell to 8.5 percent in December,
the lowest since February 2009. It is down from 10 percent in
October 2009, four months after the 18-month recession ended.
The rate was 5 percent at the end of 2007.

“The prospects of doing anything in this Congress are
small,” Villaraigosa said. “That doesn’t mean that we can’t
keep on knocking on the door and demanding that these people do
their jobs.”

Last year, the Democratic president’s proposed $447 billion
economic-stimulus plan, including funds to prevent further job
cuts by local governments, failed to win enough support in
Congress, where officials are focused on curbing the nation’s
budget deficit. Congress has also reduced the block grant
program by $1 billion, which the mayors’ report estimates may
have cost 35,000 possible jobs.

IHS said it anticipates that spending reductions at
federal, state and local levels will lower economic growth by
half a percentage point in 2012.

Cities Ignored

Columbus, Ohio, Mayor Michael Coleman said he’s frustrated
by the failure of Congress to approve transportation bill that
could help create jobs in his city.

“We’re being ignored,” he said in an interview.
“Congress has jumped ship.”

The report does point to some regional improvement. Cities
with economies tied to international trade, transportation and
utilities will benefit this year, with those industries expected
to create 563,000 jobs in 2012.

In the industrial Midwest, manufacturing is driving
employment growth in parts of Michigan and Ohio. Booming energy
production is also helping areas such as Pittsburgh, whose
employment grew as a result of moves to tap natural gas
reserves, according to the report released by the mayors group.